The present invention generally relates to a hair curler for winding up human hair to create curls. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hair curler including a body the diameter of which diminishes from its first end over its axial length towards its second end. Such hair curlers are used to wind up or to wave tresses of hair to form curls. The novel hair curler may be used for fast hairstyles as well as for the production of permanent waves.
A hair curler is known from German patent document No. 30 05 837. The known hair curler includes a conical supporting body being made of plastic or metal. The supporting body at its end having a smaller diameter includes an enlarged rim portion. At this place, a needle is used as a fixing device. With the known hair curler, is desired to form the hair to have a natural waveform after the hair curler has been unwound. The change of the cross section over the axial length is discontinuous. The tress of hair to be wound up is hard to be fixed on the circumference of the supporting body. The fixing device in the form of the needle also fixes the curl on the supporting body.
Another hair curler is known from German utility model No. 1 851 303. The known hair curler includes a supporting body being made of injection-molded plastic or of metal. The supporting body determines the shape of the hair curler and it only has limited flexibility. A knitted or woven wide-meshed pad-like coating is located on the surface of the supporting body. The coating may have a plush-like surface. Due to the wide-meshed design, it is possible to insert an insertion needle through the coating and through the supporting body in a transverse direction after the winding process of the tress of hair has been finished. The insertion takes place without damaging the coating or the supporting body. The insertion needle also fulfills the function of a fixing device for the hair curler with respect to the head. Due to the wide-meshed plush-like coating, the tress of hair to be wound up is gently supported on the circumference of the hair curler without bending effects. However, there is the danger of the friction between the hair and the coating not being sufficient during the winding process. Consequently, the winding up process requires substantial skills, especially in case a fixed, tight connection is to be achieved between the curl and the hair curler. The insertion needle to be inserted in a transverse direction also serves to fix the curl on the circumference of the hair curler.
A friction winding device for winding up human hair is known from German patent No. 40 18 202 C2. The friction winding device includes a friction body having outwardly protruding friction protrusions being arranged in a way similar to the hook band of a Velcro fastener. The friction protrusions frictionally engage the hair directly. Such friction winding devices have the advantage of no fixing device of any kind being necessary. The tress of hair to be wound up on the circumference directly engages and contacts the hooks of the hook band. The curl is fixed on the circumference of the coating already during the winding process. After the winding process has been finished, the friction winding device automatically achieves a fixed connection with respect to the head. Consequently, no fixing device, for example a clasp, a transverse locking device or the like, has to be operated. The supporting body may be a cylindrical portion being made of foamed plastic having such a narrow pore design that it is capable of absorbing fluids. The unit consisting of the supporting body and the friction body has a soft and elastic design.
The known hair curlers and the known friction winding devices have the disadvantage of the wound up tress of hairxe2x80x94starting at the tips of the hair and ending at the base of the hair at the scalpxe2x80x94building up on the hair curler during the winding process. This means that a first portion of the tress of hair is wound up on the hair curler during a first rotation of the hair curler and a second portion of the tress of hair following the first portion is wound up on the first portion during a second rotation of the hair curler. Consequently, the tress of hair is wound up on the hair curler and on the already wound up portion of the tress of hair, respectively, to build up on the hair curler with an increasing bending radius. Additionally, the use of a separate fixing device for fixing the hair curler and the wound up tress of hair at the head is necessary. The fixing device may be a needle or a pin. Depending on the skills of the user, the end of the tress of hair adjacent the scalp remains in a more or less unwound state. However, it extends straight from the scalp to the tangential winding point being located at the circumference of the cylindrical supporting body.
The present invention relates to a hair curler for winding up human hair. The hair curler includes a hollow supporting body having a first end, a second end, an axial length, a circumference and a cross section. The cross section diminishes from the first end over the axial length towards the second end. An enlarged element has a cross section being more than the cross section of the second end, it is located in the region of the second end and it is designed and arranged to prevent hair from slipping off the hair curler in a mounted position of the hair curler. A fixing device is designed and arranged to fix the supporting body in the region of the base of the hair in the mounted position of said the curler. A hook band is located on the circumference of the supporting body. The hook band at least covers a portion of the circumference of the supporting body. The portion approximately extends from the region of the first end in the direction of the axial length of the supporting body. The supporting body at least in the portion being covered by the hook band has an approximately oval cross section. It is to be understood that the fixing device may be a separate element or the hook band may fulfil its function.
The present invention is based on the concept of designing the hair curler to have a cross-section diminishing from its one end towards its other end and in a way that it has an elliptical or oval cross section at least at its starting end. Special effects may be achieved by the supporting body at least in the region being covered by the portion of the hook band at the starting end of the supporting body having an oval cross section. The oval cross section realizes the deformation of the tress of hair and the design of the curl, respectively, in the region adjacent to the tips of the hair. In this way, greater radiuses and smaller radiuses are alternately realized over the length of the tress of hair. Corresponding to the generally diminishing cross section, the radiuses have different extensions in the direction towards the scalp. In case the supporting body in its second portion facing its cone-like tip has a circular cross section, the above-mentioned difference is not present in this second portion. However, this fact does not have a negative effect since it is important to create a tight, curly volume of hair in this portion close to the scalp to provide great stability and durability of the hairstyle. In this way, it is possible to wind up the tress of hair starting with the tips of the hair at the first or starting end of the hair curler, meaning the end having a greater cross section. The separate threads of the tress of hair are not curled up one above the other, as it is known in the art, but rather in a displaced manner in an axial direction of the hair curler towards the tip and the second end having a smaller cross section. Thus, a curl in the region of the tips having a greater bending radius and having a smaller bending radius adjacent to the scalp is produced. The smaller bending radius being located in the region of the base of the hair and of the scalp, respectively, is very important for the looks of the curl and of the resulting hairstyle, respectively. The comparatively smaller bending radius provides for a greater density of the hairstyle close to the head. The curl is bent in the region of the tips of the hair different from what known cylindrical or conical hair curlers produce. The tendency of the bending radiuses of the curls being produced with the novel hair curler is opposite to what is known in the prior art. This results in a novel esthetical impression of the hairstyles being attained with the curls being made with the novel curler. The diminishing cross section of the hair curler and the bending radiuses of the curls changing from the tips in a direction towards the scalp have another advantage of the straight pieces of hair of the tress of hair being located directly adjacent to the scalp being reduced. The novel curler allows for producing curls and a hairstyle, as it was not possible in the prior art. The novel hairstyle in the region close to the head has a great volume and a very curly design providing great stability. In the region of the tips of the hair, the curls have a comparatively greater bending radius.
There are a number of different possibilities of realizing and designing the fixing device. The fixing device may include a portion of a hook band being located on the circumference of the supporting body. In this case, the hook band not only forms the supporting location for the tress of hair to be wound up to form a curl, but it also forms the fixing device. In this way the use of a separate fixing device in the form of a needle, a pin or the like is not necessary. The design of the hook band including protruding elements having bent or enlarged ends is sufficient to securely fix the hair curler close to the scalp at the end of the winding process. In case of the supporting body in the region of its second end having a very small cross-section and, consequently, a very small radius, the arrangement of the hook band at this place may have a negative effect in a way that the hair curler is fixed to the scalp too much. This may have a negative effect on the unwinding process. On the other hand, a very small bending radius in the region of the second end of the hair curler is especially desired to vary the bending radius within a great range, meaning to cover great diameters changes of the supporting body. In this case, it makes sense to design the hook band to cover the thicker first end of the supporting body and to only cover a part of the length of the supporting body and to additionally use a separate fixing needle, a pin or the like as the fixing device. In such an embodiment of the novel hair curler, the portion of the hook band serves to anchor the tips of the hair at the hair curler. Thus, the beginning of the winding process is simplified. It is no longer necessary to wind up the tips of the hair for some rotations in a way to build up, but instead, the axial displacement of the tress of the hair may start right at the beginning of the winding process and directly adjacent to the tips of the hair. The portion of the hook band extends over approximately half the length of the hair curler. The hook band does not cover the thinner second end of the hair curler. This design of the novel hair curler requires the use of an additional separate fixing device, for example a needle, a pin or a plug. Preferably, the plug is being inserted through the supporting body in the region of the second end of the hair curler in a transverse direction with respect to the axial direction. For this purpose, the supporting body at least in this region has a partly opened design.
The supporting body at is thicker starting first end may have an oval cross section changing to a circular cross section. The supporting body imparts the hair curler a characteristic shape in the form of a more or less acute cone or a truncated cone. The supporting body may also include circular portions. However, the circular or oval cross sections are of special importance to the invention. The course of the cross section varies over the axial length of the hair curler.
It is important to prevent the wound up tress of hair from sliding off the second end of the supporting body having the smaller diameter. For this purpose, an enlarged element, a protrusion or a different member is located at the second end of the supporting body. Especially, the enlarged element being located at the second end of the supporting body may have a spherical design. On the one hand, such a spherical design prevents the wound up tress of hair from sliding off this end and, on the other hand, it makes it possible to easily grasp, hold and turn the hair curler during the curling process.
The surface of the supporting body may have a partially opened design to make it possible to insert the fixing needle through the supporting body. The openings may be arranged only in a part of the length of the hair curler, or they may be arranged over the entire length of the hair curler. The openings provide better aeration of the wound up curl, for example during a drying process by means of a hair dryer.
The novel hair curler may be used for fast hairstyles with or without humidifying the hair, and also for the production of permanent waves. The supporting body may include a connecting element for temporarily connecting a hairdryer to the hair curler. The connecting element is located in the region of the first end of the supporting body, meaning in the region having a comparatively greater cross section.
As it has already been explained, the fixing device may be realized in very different ways. Another possibility is to design the fixing device to include a strip of coating band. After the winding process of the tress of hair has been finished, such a strip may be put on the wound up tress of hair approximately in the longitudinal direction or in a slightly screw-type manner. The use of a strip of coating band requires the use of the hook band being located on the surface of the supporting body. The fixing effect is realized by the coating band engaging the hook band and cooperating therewith. This cooperation is possible since the tress of hair is not wound up to build one roll, but instead the threads of the tress of hair are located one beside the side the other.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and the detailed description. It is intended that all such additional features and advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims.